September 2023 entry Reception Applications
DUNRAVEN SCHOOL
“The Early Years Foundation Stage is outstanding” Ofsted Report
“Staff are pleasant, effective and caring.”
Reception Parent
Welcome
Starting school is a big step for your child. Dunraven aims to make the experience as comfortable and confidence building as possible. We aim to give you and your child a real feel for the school and for you to get to know the staff quickly.
Children have had four years of learning experiences at home and at nursery before they start school. We aim to build on this by developing children’s creativity, sense of curiosity and pleasure in achievement.
Dunraven opened its primary phase in September 2013. The school was inspected in October 2014 and judged to be outstanding in all areas, including Early Years. The inspection report said ‘The quality of teaching is consistently high and adults respond to children’s interests, making learning highly enjoyable and developing a powerful desire to want to learn more. Adults praise and encourage, helping children to grow in confidence and develop strong values and personal qualities in harmony with the ethos of the whole school.’ This is as true today as it was in 2014.
I am extremely proud to lead a team that is committed to achieving high standards. We provide a stimulating, varied curriculum that all children will enjoy and learn from. We look forward to welcoming you to our school.
Ms M Christian, Headteacher
Aims and Ethos
Dunraven’s aim is to provide ‘excellence for all’. Our Ofsted inspection confirms that we are an outstanding school across all phases and that children in Reception classes make an excellent start, achieving standards of development significantly ahead of others nationally. This means:
• Children will develop a love of learning and a clear understanding of their needs as well as their responsibilities
• Children will be supported in developing their independence, creativity and confidence
• Children will develop their ability in the key areas of English and Mathematics to prepare them effectively for the demands of secondary school
• Children will have access to a significant range of extra curricular opportunities to enrich their school experience
We also want to help our children develop their capacity in a range of important character strengths to prepare them for their life ahead:
• Optimism - I believe I can improve and be more successful with deliberate practice
• Resilience - I stick with something even when times are difficult or I have to struggle in order to get things done well
• Gratitude - I show my appreciation for other people and opportunities I am offered
• Courtesy - I show respect to my peers and the adults in school because it is the right thing to do (not because I’m told to do so)
• Self discipline - I focus on the right thing at the right time and avoid the easy option
• Working hard - I put as much effort and thought into a task as I can
All Through School
We are really excited by the possibilities that the primary phase provides and believe that we have a lot to offer. One of the key benefits of being an all through school is that we help develop the whole child into a young adult of whom we can all be proud. Those children in our primary phase will have an automatic right to continue into the secondary school. This will provide a unique opportunity for families to develop a long term relationship with us and remove the anxiety that often surrounds the process of transfer to secondary school.
The primary children are based in the building on our Mount Nod Road site. This offers a supportive and safe small school environment with the benefit of the facilities and expertise that the “big school” can provide.
“The new, purpose-built setting is equipped with vibrant, stimulating resources made accessible to every child. This creates excellent opportunities for children to reach and achieve their true potential.” Ofsted.
“Children are provided with an impressive range of experiences....a lovely school”Reception Parent
Curriculum
Our broad and balanced curriculum is based on the National Curriculum and adapted to celebrate our community. We have used the best of a variety of resources combined with the expertise of staff across Dunraven to design a curriculum that is carefully sequenced and interconnected across subjects and year groups.
English is taught through the use of high-quality texts. Children develop a love of reading by being introduced to a wide range of authors and genres. Opportunities for writing combine grammar with creativity across the curriculum.
The Maths Mastery scheme provides the framework from EYFS, through KS1 and KS2 and into KS3. The Maths Mastery approach is based on establishing conceptual understanding of the number system and mathematical concepts. Children are encouraged to reason verbally and demonstrate their thinking when applying their knowledge to mathematical problems.
Dunraven has established clear principles to ensure a continuity between primary and secondary phases. The principles include an emphasis on oracy, the importance of retrieval practice to embed learning and a commitment to enrich learning through stories and experiences beyond the classroom.
“Excellent transition is in place and children are well prepared for their move into Year 1.”
Ofsted Report
Working with Parents
We believe that during the school years parents have a fundamental role to play in helping children to learn. We do all we can to inform parents about what and how their children are learning by:
• Sending information at the start of each term, which outlines the topics that the children will be studying
• Holding parents’ evenings each term
• Sending parents annual reports
• Keeping the website, class blogs and Twitter up to date
• Explaining to parents how they can support their children with homework
• Sending a regular newsletter to parents
• Inviting parents to share class assemblies and whole school events
• Holding workshops to inform and involve parents in specific aspects of their child’s learning
Parents support their child’s learning in school by:
• Promoting a positive attitude towards school and learning
• Ensuring that their child has the best attendance record possible
• Ensuring that their child is equipped for school with the correct uniform and PE kit
• Informing us if there are matters outside of school that are likely to affect a child’s performance or behaviour
• Supporting their child in extending their learning beyond the classroom, e.g. through homework
• Fulfilling the requirements set out in the home-school agreement which is reviewed regularly by the school and sent out to all new families
Positive Behaviour
We know that children are happier and more secure in a calm and well-disciplined environment. We manage the children’s behaviour in a fair and positive manner, appropriate to the age of the child and the incident. As the children grow, we aim to help them to develop a greater sense of responsibility for themselves and others and ultimately achieve a form of discipline that is self-motivated.
We promote positive behaviour through the Good to be Green scheme as part of Dunraven’s wider ‘Commitment to Learning’ policy. Children are rewarded with certificates for good effort, postcards home and in celebration assemblies.
Persistent negative behaviour is always discussed with parents in order to agree an effective approach to resolving the problem. Experience shows that when parents work in partnership with the school, the outcome for children is more successful.
“The Early Years Foundation Stage is outstanding. Children in the Reception classes make an excellent start, achieving standards of development, significantly ahead of others nationally.”
Ofsted Report
Ofsted Report
“The new, purpose-built setting is equipped with vibrant, stimulating resources made accessible to every child. This creates excellent opportunities for children to reach and achieve their true potential.”
Extra Curricular
Breakfast Club and After School Club
We provide a Breakfast and After School Club every day from 8.00am to 5.45pm. At our After School Club, children can take part in a wide range of fun activities.
Inclusion
We aim to foster an ethos in which every child is motivated to strive for success and achieve his or her best, regardless of ability or background.
Dunraven is committed to providing equality of opportunity and we are a community that values its ethnic and cultural diversity. By getting to know your child really well, we understand how each individual learns best. Those children with additional needs – including children with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language – receive support to ensure that they can access the curriculum fully and achieve their potential. This may be provided in the classroom or outside, either one-to-one or in small groups. We also have a Speech, Language and Communication Needs Resource (SLCR) in both the primary and secondary phases. Children require an EHCP to access this resource.
Admissions for September 2023 entry
The deadline to submit applications is Sunday 15 January 2023 Applications are made using the Common Application Form for your home Local Authority.
See the Admissions Policy or our school website www.dunraven.org.uk for details.
Head of Primary Ms M Christian Deputy Head of Primary Ms H Dilley Chair of Governors Mr P Thomas CEO Mr D Boyle CBE
Dunraven School 94-98 Leigham Court Road London SW16 2QB
admissions@dunraven.det.org.uk 020 8696 5620
www.dunraven.org.uk Follow us on Twitter @Dunraven_School